Andy & Ari On3 - Donovan Edwards and Michigan are ready to RUN IT BACK | Washington coach Jedd Fisch

Episode Date: July 26, 2024

(0:00-0:40) Intro(0:41-5:37) Michigan at Big Ten Media Days(5:38-19:19) Donovan Edwards at Big Ten Media Days(19:20-27:06) Dan Lannign at Big Ten Media Days(27:07-34:06) Oregon LB Jeffrey Bassa joins the show(34:07-50:19) Washington Head Coach Jedd Fisch Joins(50:20-57:52) Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti Joins(57:53-58:37) Conclusion - See you next week!With all the talk about Ohio State’s offseason roster moves and Oregon’s entry into the Big Ten, it’s easy to forget that the Big Ten also is home to the defending national champs. Michigan visited Big Ten Media Days on Thursday and offered a reminder that while the Wolverines lost a lot of great players to the NFL, the cupboard isn’t bare.One potential breakout star is Donovan Edwards, who struggled through a disappointing 2023 season before exploding for 104 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries in the national title game win against Washington.Edwards talked Thursday about how he got through last season and how much he’s grown ahead of this season.Next, Andy breaks down Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s discussion of recruiting. Oregon has a big NIL war chest, but not an unlimited one. But does it bother Lanning that his recruiting success is credited to NIL deals when recruiting wins at Georgia or Ohio State are credited differently?After that, Oregon linebacker Jeffrey Bassa discusses the huge expectations for the Ducks.Then we look at the other side of the Oregon-Washington rivalry as new Huskies coach Jedd Fisch joins Andy to talk about rebuilding a team that won’t look anything like the one that played for a national title.Andy is then joined by another first-year coach — Indiana’s Curt Cignetti. Cignetti won big at James Madison, and he’s loaded the Hoosiers’ roster with veteran transfers who played well at the Group of 5 level. Will that method produce a quick start at a place not known for winning football?Want to watch the show instead? Join us M-F, LIVE, at 8 am et on YouTube!Host: Andy StaplesProducer: River Bailey

Welcome to Andy Staples on three Big Ten media days wrapped up on Thursday. And it was interesting because we spent so much time talking about the new teams, talking about USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, joining the conference. And Oregon and Washington were in Indianapolis on Thursday to talk about their upcoming seasons. But there was another team prominently featured Thursday, and I feel like we've almost forgotten them, but they shouldn't be forgotten.

The defending national champions, the Michigan Wolverines. Look, I know we talked about the Connor Stallions documentary earlier, but let's talk about this team right now. Sharon Moore taking over for Jim Harbaugh. Some really good players coming back, but I feel like they've been lost in the discussion of Ohio State and Oregon and our expectations for the Buckeyes and the Ducks, which are founded. They're justified. Like, Ohio State looks like the best roster in the country. They look like a team that should compete for the national title,

but they still have to beat Michigan. And of course, they got the questions when they were here on Tuesday about, are you going to be able to break the streak against Michigan? But it's almost like Michigan's an idea rather than a team they have to play because this Michigan team obviously is going to be really different than the Michigan team we saw winning the national title. By the way, the team they beat, Washington, also going to be really different. We're going to talk to Jed Fish, the new Washington coach, later in the show

just about how different the Huskies are going to look. But Michigan, there's some familiar faces. Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Will Johnson. I will adventure those are three first-round draft picks next year. All on the starting defense at Michigan. Donovan Edwards is back. We're going to hear a lot from him because I think he might be the most interesting player at Michigan.

We don't know about the quarterback. Could it be Alex Orji? Jack Tuttle? We'll see. Sharon Moore was very coy about that. He got asked about when that decision was going to be made, about what the timeline would be, would it bleed into the season, and he basically was having none of any of those questions. Did not want to answer any of it. Said, we'll let you know when

we know, or maybe not. And then smiled. So we don't know what they're going to look like. I suspect that offensive line will still be good because Sharon Moore is the head coach of this team. He was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach of this team last year and has been really good at developing offensive linemen yes they lost a lot but they also have been developing guys who are waiting in the wings that's something that that Michigan has done very well at that position group over the years so I think the idea that Michigan isn't going to be in the mix for the big 10 title.

I think we're premature on that. Like I want to see them play Texas week two before I make any determinations about where they sit in potential national contention. Because when you've got three first rounders on your defense, guess what? You're pretty damn good on that side of the ball. We'll see about the offense, but if it is adequate, they're still going to be good. If it is above average,

we're talking about a potential playoff team here. Michigan is not falling off the map here. And I think it's very interesting how quickly we think because they had so many older players that they can't just reload. Like, we don't think that way with Alabama. We don't think that way with Georgia. And we don't think that way with Ohio State. We just assume there's more money in the banana stand. With Michigan, because they have not been at that level time and time again over the last 20 years, we don't think that way.

Now, we didn't think that way with Georgia until they got there. We didn't think that way with Clemson until they got there, and now they're not there. So is Michigan there? I think that's the question. Is Michigan at the point where they can reload every year and be a national contention? We don't know.

That's something Team 145 is going to have to answer. But I look at that roster and I think, okay, they're going to give some offenses big problems. I really want to see them against this Texas offense. I want to see Quinn Ewers operating against the Michigan defense and how well Michigan holds up because Texas is a team that we think can compete for the SEC championship, that we think can compete for the national championship, that we think definitely will have a space in the 12-team playoff.

What if Michigan goes toe-to-toe? What does that mean? I think there's a very good chance it could happen. One guy who probably needs to be a star this season for Michigan to be able to go toe-to-toe with those teams is Donovan Edwards. And I find him absolutely fascinating. He was such an interesting player last season. This is a guy who had huge expectations coming into last year. He had a great season in 2022. We think of the long run against Ohio State in that game, and it was just expected that, yes, Blake Corham would be the bell cow back, but Donovan Edwards would come in and be that change of pace, that big play home run threat, and he just wasn't. He just wasn't for most of the season. And he didn't get a ton of carries, but also when he did get carries, he didn't always do very much with them. You look at the, the per carry averages in some of his

games, you know, against UNLV six carries for nine yards against Minnesota. Uh, he had four carries for 20 yards. That's five yards of carry, but then against Indiana, nine carries for nine yards against Minnesota. He had four carries for 20 yards. That's five yards a carry. But then against Indiana, nine carries for 20 yards. That's a 2.2 average. And it just didn't seem to be working out for him. And it was tough on him. He was very upfront about what he went through last season and how that worked. And then, as everybody remembers, he had a pretty good game against Penn State when it mattered a lot. Remember when Michigan just said, you know what? We're running the damn ball. We're getting out of here with a win. But then you still didn't see that much from him again until the national title game. And the national title game, he just explodes. Six carries, 104 yards, two touchdowns, two early scores that really set the tone.

You kind of knew how the game was going to go after he touched the ball a few times. But it was very interesting how last season progressed. And it's not something that you normally see where somebody struggles like that, struggles like that, struggles like that, and just stays with it. And then finally, it breaks open in the biggest possible moment in the season. Donovan Edwards talked about that on Thursday in Indianapolis. And like I said, just fascinating to hear him describe it. You mentioned that you were struggling mentally emotionally going into the national championship game can you not not at the national championship but tell me a

little bit more than about what you were yeah so like uh like the first couple games like you know whatever like you know first couple games but then like come like week four or five six or seven like damn like the hell is this excuse my language by seven, I'm like, damn, like, what the hell is this? Excuse my language, by the way. I'm like, damn, like, what's going on? And, you know, ultimately, like, you know, it's just like all these factors. Like, I'm not getting the ball as much as I want to. Like, I know I'm only going to go in on third downs.

Like, whatever, you know. Like, because, you know, like, if you know that you're talented, you know, you've proved something already. Like, you would want to be in the game more, which is whatever. Like, you know, I think that that's what shaped me until I am today. But ultimately, I had the choice to, like, I had the choice to, as Coach Harbaugh would say, be better or get better. And I chose getting better, you know.

Like, I continued to root my teammates. So, I didn't care who was getting the touches. I didn't care who was getting the touchdowns. I didn't care after the Rose Bowl, more specifically. After the Rose Bowl, I didn't care who was getting the touches. I didn't care who was getting the touches. I didn't care after the Rose Bowl, more specifically, after the Rose Bowl, I didn't care anymore. So, yeah, like I just saw a therapist. Mike Hart told me to go see him when I said, you're right, I should, I need to.

And ultimately, you know, I realized I put a lot of expectations on myself, like wanting to get drafted after the season, knowing like, yeah, bro, it might not happen. I put a lot of expectations on myself, like wanting to get drafted after the season, knowing like, yeah, bro, it might not happen. I put a lot of expectations on myself that I'm not going to do ever again. When did you kind of feel that burden start to come off your shoulders? Oh, I'd say like, it was probably like maybe before like Penn State, I believe, you know, I was just taking a knee and, you know, I had a fire back in my soul, which my Ann Arbor people, my Wolverine people know. I told this story.

I felt the fire back in my soul and back in my heart, what makes me great. I felt that back, and I was like, yeah, I'm back. I'm back in action. Felt the fire back in his soul. Talking about seeing a therapist, which is very open and honest from Donovan Edwards. I'm glad he's saying that. I remember talking to Sam Hartman about that a therapist, which is very, very open and honest from Donovan Edwards. I'm glad he's saying that.

I remember talking to Sam Hartman about that a few years ago when Sam was still at Wake Forest. And he talked about seeing a therapist to help him deal with some of the stresses that he was dealing with as the quarterback of a big-time college football team. And these guys are under a ton of pressure. And so glad that he can be that open and honest about it. It does take some of the stigma off that I've done in my own life, gone to talk to somebody. And I would highly recommend that to everybody because it does, you kind of unburden yourself. And, you know, you look at what he was handling in terms of the pressure, the expectations, and it really could have gone the wrong way. And you look at what he was handling in terms of the pressure, the expectations, and it really could have gone the wrong way. And you heard him talk about what Jim Harbaugh said, you can be bitter or get better. And he chose to get better. And he was talking about between the

Rose Bowl and the national championship game. So in the Rose Bowl, Donovan Edwards ran four times for 11 yards. I mean, think about that. You've made it to the national championship game. Your team is at the pinnacle. You've finally overcome this big, you know, albatross that's been hanging over you because, you know, remember Michigan had made the playoff the previous two years and lost in the semifinals. Well, they beat Alabama in the Rose Bowl. They're there. But I'm sure individually, it was not satisfying at all for Donovan Edwards. But he was talking about during that period,

he was rereading the Bible. And that particular week, he got to the book of Job. And if you've never read the book of Job, heard the story of Job, most people have, but Job's a guy who's doing really well. And basically God decides, hey, I'm going to make this dude suffer just to see if he is truly as faithful as he says he is. And just all of the bad things that can be put on a guy are put on Job. And he never loses his faith. And then he's ultimately rewarded for it. And that is what Donovan Edwards was thinking as he's going from the Rose Bowl where individually not very satisfying,

but for his team, extremely big, goes to the national title game. And now the reward comes. And boy, did it come in spades. And he was just incredible in that game. And you saw the stuff that, you know, this was a five-star recruit, a guy who had shown, like in 2022 as a sophomore,

what he could be. And you wondered if you want to see it again. And now you're seeing it. So Donovan Edwards, by the way, up to 215 pounds. He played last year at about 203. He wants to be more durable. He knows that he's got to play that role that Blake Corum played

the last couple of years at Michigan. He got asked, though, it was interesting, because the world's changed for running backs. And the idea of what a running back wants out of a game has changed. So he got a question today that I think kind of came out of the old school line of thinking. He's asked, you know, do you want it 25 times a game? Are you ready to get the ball 25 times a game?

Yeah, I could be a 25-carry guy. Do I want it? I'll take it if needed to be, but I want other guys to be able to get their touches. I want to be able to, you know, catch the ball too, get like four or five catches. It doesn't matter whatever Kirk wants, whatever's best for the team. That's what I want. I could have 25 carries, but ultimately I want Khalil Mullis to get carries. I want Ben Hall to get carries. I want Tommy to get carries. I want all running backs

to get carries when a number is called on, but to answer your question, yes, I could do it. I'm confident in it. That's a very 2024 running back answer. I could carry a 25 a game, but let's spread it around to the other guys. Let's spread it around a little bit. Let's keep some tread on the tires. But honestly, if Michigan is playing well, I don't think they're going to have to rely on Donovan Edwards to carry 25 times a game. I do

think there will be other backs who will be able to jump in and contribute just as Donovan Edwards did when Blake Corum was that guy. Another big moment for Donovan Edwards is he's on the cover of the video game. He's he's the one of the cover athletes for the video game with Quinn Ewers, who his team will be playing in week two, and with Travis Hunter from Colorado. Now, interesting story on getting that cover of the video game

from Donovan Edwards. One of those things like, you know, when people slide into our DMs, usually we're just like, whatever. Just remember, not everybody sliding into your DMs is doing it for a bad reason. Occasionally, there's something cool in your DMs. So, yeah. So, I got a DM from one of the people at EA. I don't respond to DMs, you feel me?

Because, like, I don't know. I don't know who yous, you feel me, because, like, I don't know. I don't know who you are, you feel me. But then one of my representatives called me. He told me that the EA wanted to do a deal with you. I said, well, what's the deal? They said be on the cover of the game. I said, ooh. I said, ooh-wee.

So, you know, I had to take that deal, you know. So very grateful that EA chose me to be on the cover of the game. I'm going to go deeper into that question. I also look at it as a great obligation for me to represent the program and to be a leader amongst my team and to do my absolute best every single day to uplift our standard. My thing, too, is I want guys to see, like, yeah, Donovan has a lot going on for him right now, but, you know, you could be in the same situation, too. But when you're in

the situation, what are you going to do with it? You know, you can either be rude, you could be mean, or you could be a good person. And I want people to choose being a good person, you know, that I could be able to connect to about that, about being on the cover of the game. I'm sorry, one more time.

I already answered that. It could be better, but it's okay. Nobody's entirely happy with their player rating. Yeah, it could be better, but it's okay. But I did love that part where he says, look, I also want to set an example for the younger guys who, by the way, if you're a young guy in Michigan, there's a chance you could wind up on the cover of the video game too. You're one of the biggest programs in the

country. You're going to be a superstar playing on TV in front of millions of people. So show how you handle that situation. Cause there's, there's pressure to that too. There's expectations that come with that too. You think about how many millions of kids are playing this game right now and and you're the one they see every time it loads it's just wild it's amazing and you think about this whole situation this ride for donovan edwards and it's very cool that he's wound up here but yeah when somebody pops into your dms it's not always necessarily bad now if they say they're they're deposed prince from from an african country country would like all your money. Maybe be a little leery of that, but maybe they want to put you on the cover of a video game. Who knows?

But I can't wait to watch Donovan Edwards this year. Can't wait to watch Michigan again defending national champs. And it feels like we're barely talking about him. So I figured, why not? Let's lead the show. Let's talk Wolverines. And this is the guy. I mean, this might be the guy who needs to have the biggest year for them to be back in that conversation. He certainly handled last year well, even though it didn't go the way he wanted it to. Now we'll see how does he handle the rest of it because the expectations are going to be even bigger this year.

Something I had big expectations for, and of course it met them. Our guy, Phillip Dukes, Dukes the Scoop. He has the five-star flex show on the On3Recruits channel. I heard he got an interview with Kirby Smart. I knew it was going to be a banger. It was. So we're going to play you a little bit from it, but I guarantee you after you watch it, you are going to go to watch the whole interview.

So watch the rest of this show, but when you're done, pop over to the on three recruits channel and watch that five-star flex Duke's the scoop interview with Kirby smart. Here is Kirby. For any of the players that you've recruited in the past, you'll have to say a name, where NIL was their emphasis. What's been the craziest kind of ask or demand that you've heard from one of these recruits? Well, there's some staggering numbers out there. You know, it's like people throw out numbers that another school is wrapping

into a three-year or a four-year deal, and they add it all up. And it's foolish to me to think that somebody's going to say, well, over four years you're going to make X. Anybody can make those numbers seem what they want to seem and seem very staggering to a high school family that's saying, oh, my gosh, I can get this much money over four years. But some of the things, I mean, whether it's cars or tickets, you know, that's the one that gets me is like when NCAA says you get four tickets, that's what you get. And then when somebody comes in talking about, well, I need 50-yard line seats, that's not within my control.

That's not within our power. Nobody's going to do that because the boosters and the fans that are paying for those are paying a whole different rate. When you go to the NFL, they make you pay for your tickets. So when you want to go out there and you want to have eight family members there in the NFL, you're paying $120 a pop for those tickets. It's a whole different world than getting your four cop tickets. So you can see that whole interview with Georgia coach Kirby Smart on the On3Recruits channel. Five Star Flex is the name of the show.

Phillip Dukes is your host. You hear him on this show all the time. Great interview with Kirby Smart, the head coach of the team that's won two of the last three national titles. And is one that we are talking about seriously as a contender for this next national title. Now, one guy who used to work with Kirby Smart helped him win that first national title is Oregon coach Dan Lanning, who is here in Indianapolis on Thursday talking about his Oregon Ducks. Now, Pat McAfee's show is based out of Indianapolis. The Thunderdome is in Indianapolis.

And so Lanning went over there while at Big Ten Media Days. He made a little side trip over to the Thunderdome is in Indianapolis. And so Lanning went over there while at Big Ten Media Days. He made a little side trip over to the Thunderdome. And he's joking to Pat McAfee about, hey, it's great that Georgia can get all his recruits. And they don't even need to do it with any NIL. And that's a shot at not at Georgia, but at this reputation that Oregon's recruiting success of late is only due to NIL. They're just overpaying, that Phil Knight and Nike are just paying everybody they want. And Division Street, the collective at Oregon, is run by people who used to work at Nike. Phil Knight obviously used to be, well, is Nike's founder and doesn't run the day-to-day operations

anymore, but is worth a lot of money. I think I'm being conservative here when I say a go billion dollars, he's worth multiple billions of dollars. So this is a guy who has been a major benefactor to Oregon's program. Oregon does have lots of NIL money, But Dan Lanning had some fun with that because I think he's getting a little tired of the reputation that, oh, you're just buying these guys. Well, doesn't Ohio State have a lot of NIL money? Doesn't Georgia? Doesn't Alabama? It seems like the same players that are considering those schools also considering Oregon now,

which kind of was the point. I really don't care what people think. I just want to win. And I know the reality of, you know, what our situation is here. You know, there's not a top 10 program in the nation that's not funded and, you know, in a good position to compete or there wouldn't be a top 10 program. You know, that being said, there's a lot of other factors that add up to that success. Now, that was an answer to a question I asked about, does he care about the reputation of, hey, Phil Knight is the reason you're getting all these recruits? And he said no.

And he laughed. But not five minutes later later he gets a question and i'll just let you listen to it but yes if you can't quite hear what the person asking is saying it involves unlimited nil coach in terms of just year three what you wanted the vision back for this program when you first came here, how close are you to that? And especially with the way Phil said, well, limited in AO. I don't know that Phil ever said that. I mean, I don't think anybody that thinks that that's reality is living in a real world.

What better would we miss on if we had that? Exactly. What do you want to make? What should I pay myself this year? I'm going to get my payment like this is not realistic, right? But are we well taken care of? And where are we at from a standpoint of are we close to where I expect this to be? We've seen constant growth for our team every single year.

That's been fun. There's a clear goal, right, for us and where we want to be. We're not there yet. So that's part of the process. And are we there yet? When I was at Georgia my last year, we won a national championship. I couldn't have told you before the season started we were going to win one, right? And even going into that year, I think we had one player on defense

that was preseason all-conference, which how much does that matter? It doesn't. We had five guys on that defense drafted in the first round. So everyone sits around and has an expectation for what you should do and what you'll achieve. The reality is the games still have to be played, you know, and those things have to happen. Am I excited and happy with where we're at from a growth standpoint

to this point? Absolutely. Is the job done yet? Absolutely not. Okay, so fact-checked in, landing on that one, and he is 100% correct. Jordan Davis was the only member of the 2021 Georgia defense on the coach's preseason all-SEC team.

That is wild when you think about it. When you think about the guys that got drafted the following draft and then like Jalen Carter the year after that, just the one guy. So yes, we don't know anything. And in that case, the coaches picked that team. That's on them. For once, we didn't screw up the preseason prediction. But Dan Lanning's absolutely right about that. And look, is Oregon well taken care of with NIL? Absolutely. 100%.

But so is Ohio State, who they now have to compete with on the recruiting trail. And he got asked about what he learned in the SEC, recruiting against the Alabamas of the world while he was at Georgia, recruiting against Auburn, recruiting against Tennessee. And the question was essentially, does that make you ready for this in the Big Ten? And he's like, yes, but recruiting against Ohio State, Michigan, that's hard in and of itself. Penn State, that's just as hard. So he's going to have his work cut out for him. And yeah, those are all the teams that are basically going after the same players.

And you just got to be relentless and keep it up. You know, you look at Nick Saban, who, until he stopped coaching, was signing very highly ranked classes. That's one of the guys who helped Dan Lanning learn. Kirby Smart's another one. Mike Norvell at Florida State's another guy he worked for coming up. And so he got asked about, you know, how do you recruit? What, what makes you a good recruiter? Here's the answer. You have to be relentless from that

standpoint. It's like shaving. You got to do it every day. You start to look bad. Um, you know, that you're going to, you know, every detail matters. We always say one plus one plus one, right? It's not, it's not just the meals that they have on their visit. It's not just the evaluation process. It's not just the, you know, cool graphic that they might get or the connection with the parents, like all those things add up, right? And all those things are the things that you have to try to separate yourself in when it comes to winning a battle. So not necessarily specific to the SEC, but what do those battles look like? I think it's really important that that carries over to what our footprint is. It's like shaving.

If you don't do it every day, you start to look bad. I like that. I'm stealing that. We're stealing it. I wonder who he stole that from. Did he steal that from Kirby Smart, Nick Saban, Mike Norvell, or is that a Dan Lanning original? I'm very curious.

I need to ask the follow-up next time I see him. But they're in a really interesting situation because that roster does feel like it's there. Like we all remember the season opener against Georgia, his first season at Oregon, and it was clear they didn't have the dudes. Very clear they didn't have the dudes. They now seem to have the dudes. One of those dudes is linebacker Jeff Bossa. This is a guy who will be kind of the heart and soul of that defense. Now, this is a defense that's got some very good players coming back, like Jordan Burch, the head rusher, and then some good players that they brought in out of the transfer portal, like Jabbar Muhammad, who played at Washington last year, played the national title game, beat Oregon twice. Now he's there. But Jeff Bossa is one of those

guys that's going to help lead this defense. And they're going to have to be really good to beat some of the teams on this schedule. They got to play Ohio State. They got to play Michigan. They got Wisconsin in November. It's no cakewalk for the Ducks. Here's Jeff Bossa. Joined now by Oregon linebacker Jeff Bossa. And this defense, you're three under Dan Lanning. Y'all know what you're doing now, right?

Yeah. This is absolutely like everybody's locked in. I wonder about that because I've talked to guys who say, you know, when they when they get the new defensive mind head coach, sometimes it takes a little while to to get it all figured out. But when did you guys feel totally comfortable with with Coach Lanning's D? Yeah, I would really have to say going halfway into that sophomore year. Yeah, because he came in my second year. Yeah. You know, being at Oregon. So, yeah, it was obviously going into spring, it was kind of rough. Everybody was kind of getting a feel for the defense, you know,

coming from a different whole coaching staff, right? So I think going halfway into that sophomore year, heading into fall camp is when guys really started getting clicking and stuff like that. What was the mentality like? Because you, you know, obviously committed to Coach Cristobal and played for him for a little while. When Coach Lanning gets there, how different is he?

Does the message change? How does the environment change? Yeah, when he first came in, it was kind of just he wanted to go straight into connection. He wanted to be close with one another. And I think that's what was the main difference between him and Cristobal. Lanning didn't want to come in and say, we're going to run this play. We're going to do this and this and that. He wanted to build it from the ground up.

He wanted to really take a chance, an opportunity to get to know everybody in the building. And, you know, I really appreciate him for that. So when you look at this roster, it's been built up to a pretty good spot. This is the reason why we're predicting you guys to be so good this year. But let's say when you're at practice practice like if you're doing ones versus ones and you're looking over and you're seeing josh connerly you're seeing johnny cornelius you're seeing dylan gabriel at quarterback do you just go damn we score us people yeah no doubt it's surreal um like you know just heading in like this off season, it was surreal just to see like guys at workouts.

Um, just like you mentioned all the superstar names and stuff like that. Right. I really think we, you know, we have an 11 headed go on, you know, all, all of the game, offense, defense, that's what she seems right. How would Dylan, cause you know, from seeing it from the other side, how Dylan adjusted to coming in? I mean, you come, you just lost a first-round quarterback in Bo Nix. Yeah. But then you get a guy who's played a ton of college football and won a ton of games at a high level.

What's that like to have a guy just kind of dropped in like that? It's amazing. It's really amazing. There was really no drop-off from him and Bo, obviously. I mean, like the height difference. That's about it, yeah. But there's really no drop-off. Yeah, no, I believe Dylan's going to Obviously, I mean, like the height difference. That's about it. Yeah. But there's really no drop off. You know, I believe Dylan's going to be, you know,

he has everything to be a first round quarterback as well. Now this defense, you bring in some guys from the transfer portal who can help you out immediately. Who do you think we're going to be like, wow, that person really fits at Oregon? Yeah. First and foremost, I'll have to say Jamari Caldwell, Derek Harmon

and Jabbar Muhammad as well. Does Jabbar trash talk you guys? He did beat you twice last year. Yeah, so he's not a big trash talker. Okay. I figure he's outnumbered now, but he does have that where he can say that. He can. He does have the green light to say that, but he doesn't.

I mean, I respect him for it. I know that game's a long way away, but I imagine that's one you got to get that back, right? Oh, yeah. You got to win that rivalry again, right? Yeah, 100%. How exciting is it to be in a new league, to look at the schedule and see a bunch of different logos? Yeah, I think it's very exciting um to just one have the opportunity to play in such a prestigious league yeah um with a lot of history um obviously a lot of history with

guys heading going on into the nfl and history with just the conference itself yeah i think the opportunity that i have um me and this team has is going to be you know through the roof is there a stadium you've not been to that you really want to see that you is going to be you know through the roof is there a stadium you've not been to that you really want to see that you're going to get to go to um yeah i probably have to say uh purdue's and michigan's i haven't oh yeah i haven't been so big house is something now 110 000 people no doubt not as loud as ottson though shockingly 50 000 more people not as loud I you maybe you can explain it to me how do they get that loud um dang I might not even be able to explain that to you I just I you know I've been to multiple games there and and you're you know you walk in there and you're like okay it's 60,000

people how loud could it be and then you know they up that, that wolf mother song and it's just like, Oh no, it could get real. Yeah. No, the, the, the Austin fans are, you know, the best in the nation in my honest opinion. I think, you know, whether that's we're playing a small school or a big school or it's a small game or a big game, they're always going to be, you know, the loudest. And you got a bunch of new people who are going to get to see it, which will be, I imagine y'all, y'all want to show off a little bit. No doubt. No doubt.

So is there pressure, though, with this level of expectation? Obviously, we expected big things from you last year, too, but it feels like it's even more ratcheted up now. Yeah, honestly, I don't think there's no pressure. I know all the guys in the locker room don't feel pressure at all. I think they're all just eager and ready to go showcase and play and be lined up against the best in the nation as well. Well, you're going to get them.

Yeah. Maybe multiple times this year. You're going to get the best version of us too. Appreciate it, Jeff. Thank you. Thank you. That was awesome. Appreciate it.

Thank you. That is Oregon linebacker Jeff Bossa. That defense is going to be very important. I think the offense is going to score a bunch of points. Dylan Gabriel, obviously a big headliner. They bring back most of their receivers. Terrence Ferguson, a great tight end. He was in Indianapolis at Big Ten media days as well. Very impressive looking dude. But both sides of the ball are going to have to be very good for them to get where they want because this is

a team that is expected to compete for the national title like making the playoff just isn't good enough they need to compete for a big 10 title need to complete compete for a national title that's where they are as a program they are not there yet they they probably were the they were the most talented second most talented roster in the pac-12 last year. They did not win the Pac-12 title. Washington did. Washington beat Oregon twice to win the Pac-12 title. Washington's going to look real different, though. Kalen DeBoer, he's off to Alabama.

A bunch of the starting players off to the NFL. Another bunch of the starting players off to Alabama or to Oregon or to other places in the transfer portal Ole Miss what does that leave in Washington well it leaves Jed Fish the new coach he's arrived from Arizona he's had to flip that roster and now he prepares to go into a new league where he was going into a new league no matter what he's either going to go into the big 12 if he stayed at Arizona now he goes into the Big 10 at Washington. Here is Jed Fish preparing to enter the Big 10.

We're here with Washington coach Jed Fish. And I would do the, how weird is it to be in Big 10? But you've been the offensive coordinator at Michigan. You have worked everywhere at this point. Have you been in Minnesota, in the NFL? You've been on the East Coast, West Coast. Does it even matter at this point have you been in minnesota and the nfl you've been you know on the east coast west coast does it does it even matter at this point where you are uh not really not in terms of geography but it's exciting to be in the big 10 especially right now when big 10 football is exactly where you want to be yeah and um it's such a national brand it's

such a huge brand and so there is excitement being uh back in the Big Ten and being the head coach at Washington. And it's basically all new. You know, this is a new team. And I think for the casual fan who turned off the national title game and is now picking up college football again, they're going to go, wait, what? But what has it been like for you these last few months, building this roster and then getting it ready to play the way you wanted to play? Yeah, I mean, you're going to see if you turned off the game and then hasn't turned on a game, you're not going to know one guy. We've got maybe one, 21 new starters, I think, and all new coaches.

There's nobody that was on last year's team that are now, I think we have 38 scholarship players from last year's team out of the 84 scholarships that we have. So it's a brand new situation. It's a brand new team. We're trying to really reestablish ourselves in what type of football we're going to play. It's a completely different world when 10 players get drafted from that team.

Yeah. Three more signed free agent contracts. So that was an NFL team. Yeah. In that championship game. And now we're sitting here and we're trying to build ourselves back up to that level. So speaking of NFL, you have a ton of NFL experience. You've brought on coaches who have a lot of NFL experience. How much does that help in this

new world of recruiting where you're basically doing things like an NFL front office where you have to decide how much do we build through the draft? How much do we build through free agency? Because that's what high school recruiting and portal recruiting are yeah i mean i think really the experience of being in the nfl is becoming more and more important as we're building these programs uh it's going to be a world where we're going to have 105 players on our roster you're going to have to make a decision on how many of them you're going to scholarship you're going to make a decision you know between 85 and 105 do you have half scholarships are you going to use the cap in that way yeah uh there's going to be a large cap that we're going to have to figure out now you're not going to have performance bonuses right things that uh maybe we're all accustomed to in the league

but uh this is the world we're in now and it's a professional world and uh now they're not employees it's different in that regard but it certainly is that same mentality of distributing money and asking them to uh perform yeah you still you still won't have the running back who comes to you and like coach when we get inside the five you know i got a bonus coming if i get one more td but you don't worry about that yet yeah give it time but but and like steve belichick is your your defensive coordinator and he's been in that world completely how do you help him adjust to the to the college world yeah you know i i was uh miked up in some spring practice i think and i said to him i said how are your college eyes doing

you know and he's like i'm learning yeah because you know if you walk out on a college football field right and you've only been on a pro football field. Everybody looks smaller. Everybody looks a little slower. Yeah. You know, the game isn't as precise. Yeah. Especially in spring ball year one. Right. So but he's learning it and he's really gotten excited about our team. And I think he loves seeing – we talked about this the other day. The amount of jump you can see a teammate in college is so different than the jump you see in a pro football. Like these next four weeks that we're going to have in training camp, I believe the amount – the jump that our team can take will be not comparable to any jump an NFL team will make during training camp. Oh, yeah. Yeah, because those are old guys.

They've been playing forever. This is still new to these guys. They've had 15 practices with you. That's it. That's it. Let's talk about Will Rogers. I remember watching him. He's actually throwing off to the side before the national title game.

He's in a jersey and pants. And I'm like, oh, wait, that guy started four years at Mississippi State. And then he's in the portal. He's out of the portal. jersey and and pants and like oh wait that that guy started four years at Mississippi State and then he's in the portal he's out of the portal how how do those conversations go when you got there and he's trying to decide what to do yeah I think there was a lot of uncertainty um for him for us I don't I think we weren't sure you know if our quarterback that we had in arizona was planning to come or not right um i think will wasn't sure if our quarterback that we had in arizona was planning to come or not so therefore he was trying to make his decision um and then our young quarterback did come yeah

but um i think that it was a matter of will saying, I want to make sure that if I'm going to be there for my last year of football, I'm going to have this great opportunity to start and play and play under a system that fits him. As we started talking more, he started understanding that our system is probably exactly what he needed. And it's a chance to be able to play from under center and in gun. It's a chance to be able to move the pocket. It's a chance to be able to play from under center and in gun. It's a chance to be able to move the pocket. It's a chance to play act. It's a chance to make audibles and checks at the line of scrimmage. And it's a chance to be able to take on a system that is going to play to his skill sets.

So when he came back in, I think that's what we saw. Yeah, and he was in the air raid for three years. He played in a different system last year. Do these quarterbacks come more educated now? Because a lot of these transfers have seen a lot of offenses. Yeah, well, Will, for sure. First of all, he's the son of a high school coach. Right, yeah.

So his work ethic, his football acumen is A++. Yeah. Then, on top of it, he did go through the transition from coach leach um to when uh barbary yeah yeah they brought in barbary to be the to bring more of a too tight end yeah style type system so he started learning some of that i think our system's a little different um than what he learned but there's more similarities than if he just took the jump from leech to us yeah like he had that other that common ground that we could speak the language so i do think you're going to start seeing that more and more with the transferring of quarterbacks that a lot of these kids are going to have like uh two or three systems under their belt

now how well you know them in a year or two is a little different now you you do play with guys under center sometimes like how hard is it to find a quarterback who knows how to take a snap and a center who's actually snapped to a quarterback is right behind him. Uh, very hard. It's very difficult. Uh, you, and we probably spend 10 minutes a day on center quarterback exchange. Uh, we probably, and in the summertime we've asked them to probably snap thousands of balls to each other yeah because it's totally different and then it's even more different when somebody as you know lines up over you yes yes when there's a 300 pound guy not happy with you yeah and you gotta you gotta say you got some guy with his hands in your junk

and then you gotta block yeah it is a little different. Even acting like you know what we're doing with the no, you know, just center quarterback exchange. You just add that 300-pounder there. Now the world's different again. So, yeah, we got our work cut out for us, and that's what training camp's for. Well, and how much education is there with the young quarterbacks of setting protections and IDing all that stuff that they have to see at the line of scrimmage?

Well, a lot. And our starting center was out all spring with an acl injury so um you know he he'll be back for probably starting the second week of training camp but um you know be ready to go and then we brought in another center from portland state who didn't get here until summer so all of the there was no one that ever snapped before snapping all spring ball wow so we had a lot train some guys we were training snappers uh so it was fun for Coach Carroll I'm sure but another BC's been around the block he's been a lot of places. So he's done this before. This is not his first time.

Well, and so I want to ask you, I mean, because the rebuilding job he did at Arizona was incredible. I would imagine this is not the same as that. Well, I would say that it is different because, you know, there's the old saying, right, you have to learn how not to lose before you start winning. Right. When we got to Arizona, they didn't know how not to lose yeah right it was a 12 game losing streak and we lost another seven you know so they were they didn't know how not to lose yeah this team you know knows how not to lose they've won 25 or last 28 games now this team isn't that team

but um on the same token, you've got 11 new starters on offense. You've got nine new starters on defense. So, you know, what we have to teach these guys in the rebuild is like, you've got to stop thinking that we're last year's team or not. This is not anything close to, you know, a team that's all fifth and sixth year players that were all you know most of them recruited by two coaches ago right and that have played together for four years and now you're

finally having your last year and michael pennix came back for his fifth year and rome came back and polk came back and the offensive line was older and mature. So now what we're trying to teach in this rebuild, and it is a rebuild, is we're trying to explain to them like, hey, you know how to win, and you've all been around places that have won. Now we have to all come together and learn each other.

Yeah, because you've got a core that knows how to work, knows what a team that wins works like in the offseason and all that, but they didn't actually do any of the playing that did the winning. Yeah. And you've got 12 other players that transferred from Arizona that knew what it was like to win, you know, and knew what it was like to rebuild, and they don't want to rebuild. Oh, no. Yeah. So I think everybody's in the same boat,

that we all want to have the same success but we know that we're going to have to work really hard to get together and to learn each other so as as this sport changes you know you're still a relatively new head coach and you started as a head coach when all of this change started is it do you find that it's easier for you to adapt to to this stuff or is it is it still just one crazy thing after another yeah i mean i don't feel like i have the historical knowledge that gets you in trouble of saying well we never did it this way right right like i've done this for this is my fourth year as a head coach um 48 like i i love the change i i think it's exciting. I think there's a,

now I know that I probably drive our AD crazy and I probably drive all the people in our building crazy because I'm constantly wanting to know why and what and how, and how are we going to stay on top of it? And I don't like to react to others. I don't like to read that this program's doing this. Why aren't we doing that? I want it to be Washington's doing this and other programs saying, why didn't we come up with that idea? So we're constantly trying to figure out ways to be innovative and different. And I think if we can execute that, we'll have the success we need. As the revenue share piece comes in, I was talking to another coach about this the other day. And they were saying they feel like it'll close some gaps

if you're a good evaluator. That's where those people will really shine. But if you're not, then it can get ugly. Yeah, I mean, well, some of the teams that I've heard recently are spending $10 or $12 million more on their team than we are. Right. So when I see those numbers. Possibly in your league.

Probably in our league. Yes. Unless they've realigned. Yeah. So, you know, when you see those numbers that teams are spending, we got to bring it back to the norm. We got to bring this thing back. So, I mean, it used to be you have everyone has 85 scholarships. So you have equity. Yeah. Right. And you have a fair playing field. Yeah. Now you have some teams paying 1818 million, $17 million for their roster. I mean, I don't know if that's a fair playing field if other teams are paying six or three. So I think we're going to be in a spot now where if we all could get to that 14 number or 15 number, whatever it's going to be,

and then figure out a way that, okay, now let's evaluate well. Let's coach them really well. And then let's see what this thing's going to look like. I'm excited about that. Yeah, it feels a little more like the path that you used to have, even though there is money going to the players. Yeah, and that's the best part. To me, that's when we've hit exactly our North Star.

The special sauce there, yeah. Because that's what I do think. There needs to be a reward for coaches who can just find better players than everybody else or find find guys that people miss or develop guys it's the same reason why some of us don't think we need to have video on the sidelines i mean at what point in time is coaching not even coaching anymore right like there is some value to be able to see it and adjust to it i mean coach furrier was the best of all time at seeing something yep and calling it now and not having to watch a video and then come back and i mean we didn't even watch videos of

practice that's true that's true well i mean you're talking about a guy who could see the matrix on the most coaches can't do that yeah but one one last question all right so you're gonna have you know unfettered access to your qb until 15 seconds on the play clock what do you want to talk to him up until then or no no i've not i've done that uh i mean i've i mean you've done it you've actually done it yeah and uh i find it i don't i don do that. I don't talk very much. I'll call the play and maybe give one reminder, maybe. But I don't see this as being one in which that I'll be one of those coaches that hang on until 16 seconds and just babbling in their ear the whole time.

I just don't think that's how it works. I imagine some of those NFL quarterbacks you work with are like, shut up, shut up, shut up. Yeah, you get waved off quickly. You know, call the play and they wave you. So I'm accustomed to that, and I think Will would do the same. Now, could he be like a catcher shaking off a signal? Nah, they don't get that option. They don't get that privilege.

Blake Bortles tried that one time, I think. I was like, Blake, we don't wave off the call. Appreciate it, Coach. You got it, Andy. Good seeing you. That's Jed Fish. Yeah, you can't shake off the sign from the head coach, I guess, unless you're Blake Bortles. But I don't see Will Rogers doing that very much this season.

Another first-year head coach, Indiana's Kurt Cignetti, coming from James Madison. And this is a guy, there are no sacred cows for Kirk Cignetti. He is going to have some fun with this. He got to Indiana. He's like, we're coming after you, Michigan and Ohio state. He's up on the main stage of big 10 media day swearing. You're going to love this guy. You're going to absolutely love this guy. And I'm very excited to see Indiana play because he's brought in a bunch of guys who played a lot of football and played well at maybe not the same level

as the Big Ten, but they are old. They are experienced. They haven't all played together yet, but it could be very exciting playing for a coach who has won at every level he's been, and now he's at the highest level at a place where they're not used to winning much. Kurt Cignetti does not care that they are not used to winning much at Indiana.

You're going to care about Indiana after you talk to him right now. All right. Welcome, Kurt Cign netty new head football coach at Indiana University to his first Big Ten media days. How's it going? Going good. You said to me, I said, there's a little different Sunbelt media than JMU last year. I guess football.

And that's what, do we miss that? Do we miss the point on that as you guys move schools or change, we see teams change conferences? Well, I can't speak for you because I don't know what you're thinking. But for all of us coaches, like we go on vacation, get to know our wives and families again, and then when it gets to be this time of year, we all begin to morph into a different kind of person.

Oh, yeah. And then we come out of this thing and take it up another level. Then you're practicing and then playing. Right. So, no, it's an exciting conference with the new additions. It's got a great history, obviously, from way back. Great leadership from Tony. And got a lot of respect for the schools and the coaches in this conference.

How different, because the rules changed, everything changed. How different was taking over at Indiana versus when you took over at JMU? You know what? It was a lot different than any of the ones I took over because of the transfer portal. Yeah. It happened really fast. First day on campus, we had 10 offensive starters in the portal and half the defense. They didn't tell me that, but I wouldn't have either.

So it was a chaotic December. But, you know, we brought 22 new guys in, two three-year starters, all conference guys with production numbers, and I felt like we flipped the roster. And then so from that point on, the transition's been in what I would term smooth. Yeah. And I think what really helps that is I've got so many coaches been with me a long time. Well, and I was wondering about that because as you're flipping the roster, you've got a bunch of coaches who've been with you. You have the experience of playing against some of these guys who you probably saw on the portal

you'd evaluated them and and had you know pretty good idea what you were looking at how much did that help and when you had you know 24 hours 48 hours to figure out is this somebody we want well it helps a lot because maybe like you said uh you've got previous evaluations. And then, you know, they're all high-character guys. And to me it means production over potential, you know, which I say. I think that means something when you get on the field and can stay on the field. Yeah. Like it's an intangible factor.

And the JMU guys, like, you know, they're coming from championship culture. Right. So they're helping facilitate the progress you're trying to make in that area. And how much does it help having those guys who've been in your program who can tell the other players, this is what they expect, this is how we work, this is what our offseason is like, so that they're not surprised. Yeah, and setting the example, too, on how to do things, because these are some of the best players. And it wasn't the plan, but they just happened to go in the portal yeah uh so it helped a lot so we off on three talking a lot

about the way you guys are recruiting i know you can't talk about any specific players but you know you've you've come in there and said you know we're we're going after everybody what what is the message when you get these guys on campus about what this program is going to be that we're going to be? We're going to win and look at our track record. You know, if it's a quarterback, look at what we've done with quarterbacks. Our last four quarterbacks have been player of the year in a conference. That's right.

And they were all different, and they all had their skeptics. Look at our defensive numbers, receiver numbers, whatever. But we win, and it's a beautiful campus. We really have nice facilities. And I tell them all, whatever you knew about Indiana in the past, you've got to erase the tape. Yeah. Well, and that is one of the things I'd imagine when you get people on your campus. Because I've visited your place, and it is beautiful. It looks, you know, your day-to-day facilities rival anything else in the Big Ten.

Was that something that you knew going into the job, or was that something that kind of surprised you when you took it? No, I did know that because I'd played here a couple times back in the 80s at Rice when I was at NC State early 2000. And then, you know, really what the Big Ten had done from an expansion TV contract really caught my eye, and that probably put it over the hump. Well, and that's something, you know, I always wonder how much coaches follow that stuff because, you know, they, they'll all say, you know, when it's all going on, Hey, that's above my pay grade.

But I'd imagine when you're looking at resources and what you can, what you can do, and you think about, well, I've done this at these schools you know i've done this at this level if i had these resources what would i do is it is how exciting is it to know you have that now uh a lot and you're right i mean you do have to be in tune with what's going on out there especially today because there's so many changes happening fast that are really going to influence a lot of areas of your program yeah and uh But all the arrows were pointing up, and here we are. So, curse work comes in through the transfer portal. That's a guy whose production over potential.

I mean, his production's off the charts throughout his career. What's it been like working with him? It's been good. I sleep better at night. You know, he had a good spring. Yeah. He's had a great summer. Has to take a step in fall camp.

But he's a guy that's won a lot of football games, engineered a lot of two-minute drives, thrown a lot of touchdown passes, can get you back to second and ten. Knows how to play quarterback. And so I think he's a good get, and Taven Jackson's gotten better as well. Yeah. And you got to Indiana, and you said, yeah, we want to beat Purdue, of course. We also want to beat Ohio State and Michigan.

A lot of coaches wouldn't do that. What goes into that, being willing to make that statement? You know, when you're 62, 63 years old, you lose your filter a little bit. Oh, yeah. I've been around this game for a while. And, you know, this is the entertainment business. Thank you. I can remember Jim. so few coaches yeah yeah and saying we'll never lose michigan again i just took it up a few notches and plus it put you out there in the middle of the field 17 000 people yeah you know

you gotta get them charged up so yep you know that's your rival yep and then but that's not where we want to stop you're sort of setting an expectation level. Exactly. Now, it may have pissed a few people off, but so what? It's kind of like the locker room talk that the head coach gives. That lasts about 15 seconds. You've got to play the game. Exactly.

Well, Jim Harbaugh stood on that stage three years ago and said, we're going to beat them or die trying. And damned if he didn't beat them. So sometimes you speak it into existence. So it's beautiful. We were entertained then. We him. So sometimes you speak it into existence. So that's, it's beautiful. We were entertained then. We'll,

we'll be entertained by you guys. I guarantee this year. No doubt. Coach. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you so much. That is Kirk Cignetti.

And they like, after you talk to him, you start looking at that schedule. All right, who can they knock off? Who are they going to shock this year? And look, their early big 10 schedule schedule actually fairly manageable.

They go to the Rose Bowl to play UCLA for their conference opener on September 14th. They play Maryland at home. They're at Northwestern, which is going to be in the converted lacrosse stadium right on Lake Michigan. So God only knows if anybody's going to be able to throw a ball in a stadium that is right. It's basically in Lake Michigan. So the wind could be a factor. Just saying they get Nebraska in Bloomington, they get Washington in Bloomington. Now it gets a little unmanageable when they play Michigan and Ohio state back to back, but there is an open date in between those two games. But hey, I'm not counting out Indiana in any game this season. After hearing that guy talk, how can you? How can you?

It's going to be fun to watch the Hoosiers. It's going to be fun enjoying this college football season. I have had so much fun last week at SEC Media Days, this week at Big, big 10 media days just got me more pumped for a season. That's going to be unlike any other. We haven't seen anything like this yet. I cannot wait. We are so close guys.

We are less than a month away from those week zero games. Everybody's starting practice next week. It's all happening. Have a good weekend. We'll talk to you on Monday.